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This is the perfect dinner for when you really can’t be bothered to spend hours cooking but you still want something healthy and filling. It’s a super speedy meal which only take you about 15-20 all together so it’s an ideal midweek supper. I love adding extra veggies on top, it’s very effortless way of eating your greens without compromising on taste. This sauce is so simple, completely nut free and yet so packed with flavour and has the most gorgeous creamy consistency.

Place all the ingredients for the pasta sauce and blitz for at least 1 minute until you have a creamy consistency. If you find it too too thick add more olive oil.

Cook the pasta of your choice according to the cooking instructions. Mix about 2 tablespoon of pesto in each plate and sprinkle with the hemp seeds or extra nutritional yeast. I love serving this pasta with some steamed romanesco cauliflower or broccoli but any roasted veggies would be great too.
Store the leftover sauce in a jar in the fridge for few days.

If you have been following me for a while you know that I normally travel to hot and if possible tropical countries. I am not a winter person and I never will be, as soon as the temperatures drop I go into hibernation mode and all I do is googling :” where is hot in December”. Although I know I will probably always gravitate towards hot climate my recent trip to Iceland really changed my prospective about cold countries. I am actually really looking forward to visit more north European countries and yes I will probably go again during the winter months as I really think there is such a magical atmosphere that you won’t have during the summer.

Let me start by saying that Iceland was a surprise mini break for Sam to celebrate our tenth anniversary. We left London on Friday and we came back on Monday evening. Flights from London can be really affordable, especially if you book them really in advance, something to bear in mind considering that you stay in Iceland overall probably won’t be cheap!

DAY 1:

When we arrived at the airport we went to pick up our car (I booked it in advance) and since it was already mid afternoon we drove straight to our first hotel. Unless you are on an organised tour, having a car in Iceland is pretty much essential. It will give you the freedom to drive around and see probably the most gorgeous road sights of your life! The first night we stayed in Hella (around 1 hour and 40 minutes from Keflavik airport) at the River Hotel. The main reason why I decided to not to book all our 3 nights in Reykjavik (the capital) is because I was hoping we could see the northern lights which you are most likely to see if you are in the countryside. Sadly we didn’t see them! I know, gutted! With the northern lights is really a matter of pure luck, it’s kind of impossible to predict wether you are definitely going to see them or not. But a girl can dream, right?

Anyway the River Hotel was lovely, super clean and very very scandi style, aka very minimalistic all the way throughout. It also has an outdoor sauna and a hot tub which they can be turned on on request. Since you have to pay extra for breakfast I requested some vegan options and they were super accomodating, they even got me some vegan cheese!

DAY 2:

We decided to do what is generally called the “Golden Circle”which if you have your own set of wheels will probably take you 4-5 hours in total. The first stop were Gullfoss Waterfalls which are by far the most powerful and spectacular waterfalls I have ever seen in my life. In wildness and fury they are actually second to only the Niagara Falls. They were definitely breathtaking so I couldn’t not recommend more to pay them a visit.

The second stop was Geysir which again if you are in Iceland you can’t miss! You only have to wait 10-15 minutes to see an eruption. It’s the biggest geysir in Iceland as well!

The third and the final stop of the golden circle was Pingvellir national park which was so beautiful, even more so as when we got there the sun was of a mellow shade giving the surrounding a touch of golden glow. Since it was freezing cold we didn’t stay too long, if you are not the biggest fan of walking you can just go for a 30 minutes loop and still be able to experience the beauty of the landscape.

We left the national park heading to Reykjavik where we stayed for the other 2 nights. When we got there we were absolutely starving as we still haven’t had any lunch so we went to Egill Jacobsen which they are kind of brunch/lunch place with few vegan options on the menu. I had the vegan brunch plate and it was huuuge! Definitely the biggest plate of food I ever had! It had scramble tofu, baked beans, vegan cheese, avocado, hummus and sweet pancakes. Overall it was very delicious and I was seriously fulled afterwards! The other vegan option on the menu was a bean burger.

In Reykjavik we stayed at the Kvosin Downtown Hotel which is super convenient as it’s bang in the city centre and close to all the shops and restaurants. The hotel itself is divided in mini apartmentsand I just love how cosy and stylish our little flat was. I would definitely recommend to stay there, although is definitely not the cheapest option. All the hotels in Iceland are quite expensive, I definitely went slightly over of what I would normally spend as it was a special occasion. Nevertheless the hotel was really beautiful, spotlessly clean, really cosy, comfiest beds and in a super convenient location.

For dinner we went to a ramen place called Ramen Momo which serves an excellent vegan ramen with amazing kimchi. I also ordered some veggie dumplings and they were delicious too. The pace is super small, only 10 seats so be ready to maybe have to wait 10-20 minutes for a seat.

DAY 3: We decided to explore the south shore so we headed all the way to Vik, a fisherman village on the coast with dramatic black beaches and its iconic cluster of sea stacks known as Reynisdrangur which rise from the ocean like ebony towers.

The thing that I liked the most about Iceland was definitely the landscape, I could literally drive around for hours without ever getting bored of my surroundings, from golden fields, snowy mountains, the cutest horses to waterfalls and cute as a button tiny villages, Icelandic landscape is really incomparable to anything else. The second stop was Skogafoss Waterfalls which were so majestic and so tall! Literally breathtaking, we also walked all the stairs to the top and the view was just amazing! For lunch we stopped at the small restaurant at the bottom of the waterfalls, probably not the best idea as being such a tourist spot it was quite expensive but we were starving! I had a plate of pasta pasta with tomato sauce as there weren’t any other vegan option.

The final stop of the day was another waterfalls location, Seljandsfoss which again were breathtaking and so majestic.

All the main attractions (like waterfalls) are clearly indicated so you really can’t miss them.

When we arrived back in Reykjavik we popped into the cat cafe –Kattakaffihúsið– for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. You can’t miss the super cute and very pink small cafe where all the baked goodies are vegan! I had a the mocha cupcake and it was utterly delicious! Plus you get to stroke 2 adorable fluffy cats, what more can a girl ask for? 😉

For dinner we chose asian food again, I mean how can you beat a piping hot bowl of soupy noodles when it’s freezing cold outside? This time we decided to go a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho – Laugavegur. The food was ok, I definitely wouldn’t say it was the best vegan pho I haver ever had but it filled me up and it was relatively cheap.

DAY 4: Since our flight back to London was at 5pm we decided to dedicate the last day to the Blue Lagoon. I guess you can’t go to Iceland without visiting the Blue Lagoon, is like going to Paris and not see the Tour Eiffel.It’s on the way to the airport so I thought it made sense to leave it to last. Since it was our anniversary I booked the premium spa package which is definitely not cheap but I have to say it was a lovely treat and I really enjoyed every minutes.

Before we headed to the Blue Lagoon we had breakfast at Bergsson mathus which is a lovely breakfast/ brunch place just around the corner from our hotel. I love the vibes of the place and my breakfast was delicious. I had a soy cappuccino and a massive avocado toast with hummus, cucumber and tomatoes.

If you are planning to visit the Blue Lagoon I would recommend to buy online the tickets in advance as it can get really busy. Standard entry is around £47.In the spa package I chose you have exclusive access to the Spa facilities (although any massage or treatments needs to be booked and paid separately) and you have also a private section of the blue lagoon which is definitely less crowded. I have to admit the spa is beautiful, you have access to sauna, steam room, relaxation room and to body treatments which you can do yourself like scrub, algae face and mask and another mud mask. You also have your own very fancy private changing room. We definitely felt very blissed out after few hours there and we also decided to have lunch at the spa restaurant. To my surprise they were few vegan options on the menu and a good selection of juices and smoothies. I ordered the miso soup with tofu and hummus with seeds crackers. Again it wasn’t cheap but it was such a lovely way to end our stay in Iceland.

Overall I really can’t recommend to visit Iceland more! If you are a nature, wildlife fan like me this country has be on your bucket list! There is so much to see! therefore if you have the time I would probably recommend to spend at least 7 days. I wish we could have stayed longer but I am already thinking about going back during the summer time to see everything else which we didn’t have the time to see.

The only thing which sadden me about Iceland is that they are still hunting whales and sharks. And what it’s even sadder is that the majority of whale and shark meat is actually consumed by tourists. If you are visiting Iceland I beg you to think twice before consuming what it’s sold as a “local delicacy”.

On the bright side the vegan options have literally popped up everywhere! So don’t worry, you won’t have to eat potatoes for a week! In Reykjavik especially there are plenty of vegetarian or vegan friendly restaurants, I wish I could have visited more of them! To easily find them I always use the app Happycow which list all the vegan/vegetarian restaurants around you wherever you are in the world.

A final eco friendly note, Icelandic water is by far the cleanest water you will ever drink (it will probably be straight from a glacier) so please pleased don’t buy plastic bottle water! I promise tap water has never tasted so good! I had my 2 reusable bottles with me and we just refill them at any restaurants or bars which seems to be super common!

Being Italian I love a traditional wheat crust pizza but I also love to experiment with different and a bit more unusual ingredients! Although it might sound a bit weird this cauliflower pizza crust is so flavoursome and moorish. It can be made completely gluten free by using a gluten free flour (i personally love buckwheat) and it’a packed to the brim with veggies and wholesome goodness. The Avocado pesto is definitely the best part. For this recipe I have used Gem® Avocado which are now available at Tesco. What makes these avocados stand out from the crowd is their incredibly buttery consistency, yes even more than regular avocado! Gem® avocados are also left on tree for longer which means they get to ripen more at their natural state. They have a gorgeous golden yellow colour and an insanely delicious nutty flavour!

I topped my pizza with even more sliced Gem®, spring onion, cherry tomatoes, peas and cress but other toppings like mushrooms and rocket will be great too!

By the way the Gem® cream is also super delicious stirred into pasta or used as a dip or salad dressing.

Makes 1 large pizza or 2 small ones

For the base:

1 head of cauliflower

2 tbsp of milled flaxseeds + 6 tbsp of water

1 cup of spelt flour or flour of your choice

A generous pinch of salt

1/4 cup of cold water

The juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of dried oregano

For the avocado “cream”:

2 tbsp of cashews

A generous handful of fresh basil leaves

1/2 Gem® Avocado

The juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast (it gives it a nice cheesy flavour)

1 garlic clove

Salt & pepper to taste

A glug of extra virgin olive oil

For toppings”

1/2 Gem® Avocado cut into thin slices

A handful of cooked peas

A handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 sprong onion finely chopped

Some kind of micro greens like cress or rocket will be great too

Toasted pine nuts (optional but adds a nice crunch)

Some basil leaves to decorate

To make the base:

In a small bowl mix together the flaxseeds with the water. Leave it onto one side until you have a gloopy kind of consistency (about 5 minutes).

Place the cauliflower florets into a food processor and pulse until it starts ti crumble and the cauliflower looks like rice. Place the cauliflower crumble into a nut milk bag or a cotton cloth and squeeze out all the excess water. This is a very important step please don’t skip it otherwise the pizza base might result in being too soggy!

Add the drained cauliflower to a large bowl and add in the flour, the lemon juice, water, gralic powder, salt, oregano and the flaxseed mixture. Mix everything together until you have a slightly sticky kind of dough. Cover a large baking tray with some parchment paper and spread the cauliflower dough into a round pizza shape. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Make sure to flip onto the other side halfway through to make sure both sides cook evenly.

While the pizza base is cooking make the avocado cream. Simply place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz util fairly creamy and smooth. Add a dash of water or extra olive oil if the consistency is too thick.

Remove the pizza from the oven and spread a even layer of the pesto. Place the pizza back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Add the toppings and enjoy while still warm!

Savoury pancakes are seriously on my latest obsession! Especially when made with chickpea flour. If you have never use it or not really familiar with it, please give it a go! It’s a very dense flour so you definitely need to add a bit of bicarbonate to make the pancakes go a bit fluffier. When I am feeling super lazy I just serve them with some mashed avocado and some chopped tomatoes, so simple but so delicious and filling at the same time.

If you have some extra time on hand I would highly recommend to make this pumpkin/red lentils puree. It adds a lovely creaminess and sweetness and it’s also great on its own.

Serves 2-3 people (depending on how hungry you are)

Ingredients:

For the chickpea pancakes:

1 cup of chickpea flour (also called Gram flour)

3/4 cup of water

A pinch of sea salt

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

For the pumpkin puree:

About 1 cup of pumpkin or butternut squash cubes

1/3 cup of dried red lentils

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp of cumin powder

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1tbsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of miso paste (optional but it will add lots of flavour)

Salt to taste

For the tomatoes:

About 250-300 gr of cherry tomatoes

A glug of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start by making the pumpkin puree. Place the pumpkin cubes onto a baking tray. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle some salt & pepper. Bash the garlic clove with skin on. Add them to the tray and bake the pumpkin in the oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes until soft.

At the same roast the tomatoes as well. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half

While the pumpkin is baking cook the red lentils. Rinse the lentils very well under the water and add them to pan. Cover them with water and cook them for 15-20 minutes until soft and mushy. Add more water to the pan if the lentils look like they have absorbed all the water and they are drying out.

Once cooked drain the lentils and add them to a food processor. Remove the pumpkin from the oven. Squish the garlic out of their skin and add them to the food processor together with cooked pumpkin. Also add in the cumin, turmeric powder, lemon juice, miso paste and salt to taste. Blitz until you have a creamy and fairly smooth puree. Leave it onto one side while you are making the pancakes.

In a large bowl mix the chickpea flour with the salt and bicarbonate of soda. Gradually add in the water and start mixing with a whisk to avoid any lumps. Mix until you have a smooth pancake batter.

Heat up a little bit of oil on a non stick pan and once hot add in about 2 spoonfuls of the pancake batter to create a round pancake. Repeat the process until you have used all the batter.

Serve the pancakes while still warm with a dollop of the pumpkin puree on top and the roasted tomatoes.

The pancakes are best eating them while still warm If you have any leftovers you can still enjoy them the next day. They tend to go a bit hard when cold but pop them in the toaster and they will still be delicious.

These parfaits are just heaven in a jar! You certainly can go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter right? I love the creamy chai pudding layer in contrast with the richness of the peanut and the luscious avocado chocolate mousse. They are just the perfect dessert or the perfect snack/afternoon treat when you crave something sweet. To add extra goodness I have used Hifas De Terra Ganoderma mushroom powder which helps to support your immune system. It’s also famous to be the fountain of youth as it’s rich in skin loving antioxidants so it’s great as an anti-acing supplement.

In a bowl mix together all the ingredients for the chia pudding. I would recommend to use a whisk to avoid any lumps. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge overnight or for at least 3 hours.

Once the chia pudding is thick and gloopy you can either blend it if you want a proper chocolate mousse kind of consistency or you can leave it as it. I went for bending.

To make the chocolate mousse layer place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a creamy and smooth consistency. You might need to scrape the sides from time to time and blitz again.

To assemble the parfait place the chia pudding at the top of jar/glass. Add the peanut butter and top with a generous dollop of the avocado chocolate mousse. Sprinkle with the toasted peanuts and enjoy!

I have been slightly obsessed lately in making fritters or omelette with silken tofu and chickpea flour. In my opinion is really the best combination when it comes to recreate an “eggy” kind of texture. The result is a spongy, soft consistency which when combined with spices, seasoning and veggies taste absolutely delicious!

Makes about 6-8 fritters depending on the size

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of chickpea flour (also called gram flour)

1/2 cup of water

1 block of silken tofu

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast

1/2 tablespoon of corn/potato starch flour

1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder

About 1 cup of cooked and chopped cauliflower – you can either use leftover roasted or steamed cauliflower

1 cup of fresh kale – finely sliced

1tbsp of coconut oil for frying

To serve: I love serving them with mashed avocado and fresh tomatoes

Place the chickpea flour, water, silken tofu, nutritional yeast, corn flour and all the spices into a blender. Blend well until you a smooth and creamy mixture. Add in the chopped cauliflower and chopped kale. Let it sit onto one side to thicken up a bit.

Heat up the coconut oil into a non stick pan. Once really hot pour the fritters batter into a pancake shape. About 2 tablespoons each fritter. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook the fitter onto one side for at least 4-5 minutes. As it’s quite a dense mixture it will take longer than regular pancakes. Once the top of the fritters look quite solid flip them onto the other side. Cook for another 5 minute still with the lid on.

Repeat the process until you have finished all the batter. Serve while still warm with some mashed avocado, fresh tomatoes or some salad.

Nothing beats a fully loaded Buddha bowl especially when it has got falafels in it 🙂 These red pepper and sweet potatoes falafels are such a winner and so easy to make. I love how the flavour and texture of the sweet potato goes so well with the roasted peppers, they are definitely a match made in heaven! They are very convenient for lunch boxes or for when you want something quick and easy. I would recommend to make quite a large batch (just double the ingredients) and freeze them so you always have something ready on hand for when you have no time to cook.

I like to eat them in a big salad with some quinoa, cabbage, sliced avocado, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.

Place the chopped up pepper on a baking tray and drzzle with some olive oil, add some salt and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until soft.
At the same time steam the roasted sweet potato until you can pierce through with a fork. Once cooked let it cool down for 10-15 minutes.
In a large bowl add the chickpeas. With a fork or even better a potato masher roughly mash them down. They don’t have to be completely a puree, a chunky texture is more what we are looking for. Add in all the remaining ingredients and keep mashing! 🙂 Once everything is well combined add salt according to your taste.

Line a baking tray with some parchment paper. Roll the mixture into balls ( to make your life easier wet your hands so it won’t stick as much) and place them on the baking tray. Bake the falafels for 20-25 minutes. Make sure to flip them on the other side halfway through the cooking.

These falafels are super versatile, I love using them in buddha bowls, wraps or lunch boxes.

We all know we could probably do with eating more veggies, sadly just 1 in 4 adults in the UK eat their 5 a day! Vegetables don’t have be boring or bland, they can be exciting, vibrant and full of flavours! You guys know how much I love my veggies so I couldn’t be happier to take part of the #itspeppertime campaign to celebrate the gorgeous peppers coming into season. Not only peppers are seriously delicious and versatile but they are also packed with skin loving vitamin C, (even more than oranges! ) iron and calcium. They work incredibly well in all sort of recipes but I particularly fell in love with this Roasted Pepper & Chickpeas Burgers which they are super satisfying and packed with flavour! They are also great to make in advance and keep in the freezer for when you have no time to cook, the full recipe is on the blog, link in my bio!

Bread buns of your choice ( I have used wholemeal)
1 avocado
The juice of 1/2 lemon
Few baby spinach leaves or lettuce
1/2 large tomato
Cress or sprouts
Sauerkraut or pickle of your choice

Place the chopped peppers into a roasting tray. Drizzle with some olive oil, add salt and pepper and roast them in the oven for 20-25 minutes until soft and squishy.
In the meantime place the walnuts into a non stick pan and toast them for 3-5 minutes until slightly golden and fragrant. Remove them from the pan and roughly chop them. In the same pan add 1 teaspoon of oil and add the chopped spring onions. Cook them on a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.
Once the peppers are cooked transfer them to a food processor and add the chickpeas, fresh basil and spring onion. Blitz for few seconds, you don’t want to over process the mixture as you still want to have quite a chunky texture. Place the burger mixture into a bowl and add the chopped walnuts, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper. Mix everything together and shape it into patties. If you find the mixture too wet add a bit more breadcrumbs.

Line a baking tray with some parchment paper and bake the burgers for about 25-30 minutes, flipping them one the other side half way through.

Once they are cooked let them cool for 5 minutes. Assemble the burger by starting adding some lettuce the base of the bun, then the burger, a thick slice of tomato, some cress or sprouts, some mashed ado and some sauerkraut. You can obviously use other condiments like mayo or ketchup.

This is probably one of my most liked/ commented picture on Instagram. I get asked over and over again how I cook my mushrooms so I thought i finally share this easy peasy recipe. It’s by far my favourite weekend breakfast/ brunch and I religiously have it every Sunday. The garlicky mushrooms just go so well with the creamy avocado and the crunchy sourdough. Try it! I promise you will thank me later 😉

Makes 2 large slices of toast

Ingredients:

for the mushrooms:

About 250/300gr of chestnut mushrooms – these are my favourite but any mushrooms of your choice will work
1 clove of garlic -crushed
1 tablespoon of olive oil
a generous splash of tamari sauce
2 tablespoons of thyme leaves
a sprinkle of black pepper

Start by cooking the mushrooms. Wash them and slice them. Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute, keep stirring from time to time to prevent from burning. Add the sliced mushrooms, the tamari sauce and cook for about 8-10 minutes until all the water from the mushrooms her evaporated. Add the fresh thyme and black pepper.

To prepare the avocado simply mash it down with a fork and add the lemon juice and salt. Toast the bread and spread a thick layer of the avocado on top and mushrooms. Enjoy!

About Me

Hello Everyone!

I'm Elisa and I have a passion for healthy food, cooking and living. After struggling with hormonal acne after moving to London in 2008, I began a mission to redefine my skin, not by pills but by diet. This is my every day journey towards better skin and all round health.

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